Club Zoom Meeting, May 11th, 2020

The Club welcomed Irek Kusmierczyk, who shared how his experience with the Rotary and its ethos has guided his personal and professional journey. He also discussed current issues with COVID and its impacts on individuals and businesses.

Irek Kusmierczyk, MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, has had the support of the Rotary with him since his academic years, where he was the recipient of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. The extensive application process led him to complete the final leg of the interview via teleconference in Helsinki, Finland.

Video conferencing was not a widely used or accessible service at the time. Still, Rotary was at the forefront, ready to embrace technology, and it speaks to the open-mindedness of the organization and Rotarians' ability to embrace change.

The scholarship allowed Irek to study abroad, and today, he anchors himself using the 4-way test. He has proven to be a great example of what happens when people apply the ethos of Rotary to their work.

He compared today's crisis to Polio, where we shared much of the same fear and anxiety for the future. Similar to today's circumstances, the medical system was desperately trying to get its hands on more ventilators and supplies. The events that transpired changed how we deliver health care in our community and encouraged many companies to innovate to survive the pandemic.

"When we look at what we're going through right now, and what happened during Polio, it's nice to see how Rotary is continuously leading the way for change then and now."

Irek wrapped up the session with questions from various Rotarians about how parliament is responding to COVID, what we can expect for businesses, the border and the economy over the next few months.